Children-at-Risk

Today, there are more orphans and street children living in Russia than there were following the aftermath of W.W.II. The Russian government estimates over 800,000 orphans; of them 300,000 are in the Russian orphanage state system. There are 1.5 million street children living on the streets.

Based on the St. Petersburg Governor's report, almost 10,000 orphans live in the state orphanage system in the city and the surrounding area. St. Petersburg has approximately 40 orphanages in the city and there are another 60 in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. Each orphanage accommodates approximately 100 children.

At 17-18 years of age, Russian orphans are turned out into society and must find their own way to make it in life. Most do not. Ninety percent of graduate orphans end up as alcoholics, criminals or prostitutes. Many end up in prison and a large number end up committing suicide.

In President Putin's own words, "A national crisis exists and we must make the orphan problem priority #1."

The Harbor IS "priority #1."

Response From the West:

The West has responded to this situation generously. Food, clothing, medical supplies, toys, and volunteers to help upgrade facilities are flowing into the city on a regular basis. However, none of this seems to be making a difference in the final analysis. After more than a decade of help from the West, the statistics of where the orphans end up after leaving these orphanages remain unchanged. In some cases they have even worsened. Additionally, none of the current help has addressed the problems of corruption and lack of training within the system.

The Harbor... is changing Russia one life at a time:

Two years ago, the Harbor was approved by the Russian Department of Justice as an independent St. Petersburg Charitable Organization, "The Harbor".

The Harbor has received official recognition from the Department of Education to exist and work with the graduate orphans that are forced to leave the orphanages due to their age (17-18 years old). This was a major achievement as it gives us full freedom to work with all existing orphanages. Though orphanage directors were very excited about our program they were unable to officially give us "their" orphans until we had received this official government recognition. In addition, our Director of Development and Public Relations, Alex Krutov, has long-standing relationships with many of the orphanage directors due to his extensive ministry within their orphanages for the past 7 years. This allows us to easily locate future participants for the Harbor as we have personal relationships already built with them. Presently the orphanage directors are thrilled about our existence and are willing to partner with us. We have unique credibility and trust from these directors since all staff are Russian. This places us as the only ministry of this kind in the city now where Russians are serving their own. We are very proud of our place in empowering Russians to serve their own people.

Another unique facet of The Harbor is that we are a residential care program. A few other day programs exist, but there is no other residential program that emphasizes the power of relationships and modeling to bring about long-term change in another's life. This truth is evident even for those of us who grew up in the context of a loving, nurturing family, and is intensified many times over for those orphans who grew up without these things. That is why the Harbor, where the orphans live in close-knit family units, is so powerful.

We are blessed to have access to the St. Petersburg Christian University, the second largest evangelical university in Russia. We have close ties with many of the SPCU teaching and administrative staff. They serve as an incredible funnel; channeling the best of their students to us for our staff.